Equalized oscillating gear for road-vehicles.



PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

L. H. CAMPBELL EQUALIZED OSOILLATING GBARFOR ROAD VEHICLES.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED DHO.31.1904.

ill 676601 L azzzz vfiel No. 891,206. PATE NTED JUNE 16, 1908.

L. H. CAMPBELL.

EQUALIZED OSCILLATING GEAR FOR ROAD VEHiULES. APPLICATION Hum n1 :o.a1,1904.

B SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v iiz Veil for llamas-sea No. 891,206. P'ATENTED JUNE 16, 1908 .L. H.CAMPBELL.

EQUALIZED OSOILLATING GEAR FORROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED D 0.31,190

E 4 8 SHEETS-SHEET 3 v 'PATENTED JUNE 16,1908. L. H. CAMPBELL.

EQUALIZED OSGILLATING GEAR FOR ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.31,1904.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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Zia/6 20507" Z, H bun (256% No.. F PATENTED JUNE 16, 1 988 5.5,CAMPBELL. BQUAMEZBEP i'l i'ffii'fiilATiNG GEAR FOR RUM; VEHICLES.

APPLIGATION FILED DEO.31,1904. 4

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L L E B P M Am G E L Rm 0 w 1 9 no O i GSGILLATING GEAR FOR ROADVEHICLES- a SHEETS-SHEET s GILTION FILED 17110.31, 199 i.

Ext army No. 891,206. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. L. H. CAMPBELL. EQUALIZEDOSOILLATING GEAR FOR RQAD VEHICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED 172.70.31.1904.

B SHEETS-SHEET 7.

la hu No. 891,206. PATEN'IEE L H. CAMPBELL,

EQUALIZED OSOILLATING GEAR FOR RUM) VEHICLES.

APPLIOATICN FILED DEG.31,1904,

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

LOUIS CAMPBELL, Ol POli'lLANl), OREGON, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO A. A.LINDSEY,

TRUSTEE, 0b PORTLAND, OREGON.

EQUALIZED OSCILLATING GEAR FOR ROAD-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application flled December 31, 1904. Serial No. 239,218.

frame while hauling a load over a rough section of road.

To this end the object of my invention is to so construct therunninggear of a vehicle that it is enabled to adaptitself to the unevenness,or roughness in the road surface. That isto say my running gear is madewith equalizing devices which operate to neut: ize the torsional strainimposed by either of the wheels dropping into a depression, or cliinbingan elevation in the road surface, and the consequential incline of thewagon body and shifting of the center of gravityoi the weight of theload carried.

My improvement is as beneficial in the construction of vehicles designedfor passenger services as it is inthe construction of freight vehicles.When applied to passenger vehicles,.the same are rendered more easyriding. When applied to freighting vehicles,

they are rendered more easy running and their life is greatly prolonged.as

I accomplish my object by the devices illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter described. i

In said drawings, Figures 1 and 2 taken together represent a plan of thefront and rear sectipns' of the running-gear of avehicle of the lowbodied type, provided with front and rear pivoting aides andincorporating my improvement. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the for--ward half of the vehicle body shown in'Fig. 2, the inverted lan of therear half not shown .-woul'd beadup icate of the half shown; Fi' .4

is an end elevation (of either end) of the ve icle shown in thepreceding figures; Fig. 5 is aside eleva'tionof the front sectionof'said vehi ,cle with drawbar re1noved; Fig.6is a central longitudinalsection of one of the runnin gear; Fig. 7 is a transverse section of thewhee gear, of either. end of the vehicle below line pointed by arrow inin Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a cross section of the central member. of thevehicle frame showing one of the boxes in which are jonrnaled the endsof the oscillating pin '5; Fig. 9 is a partial plan section on a lineparallel with thc'upper face of the axle g, in Fig. 4, and illustratesthe means for mounting the vehicle on the axles; Fig. 10 is aperspective of one of the pedestals 7), an end elevation of which isseen in Fig. 4; Fig. 11 is an inverted plan section of said pedestal p;Figs. 12, 13

and 14 are details of construction to be later more fully described;Figs. 15 and. 16 are diagrammatic illustrations oi different modes of aplication of my equalizing devices; Fl"

17 s iows my invention-applied to a vehicle made with rigid rear axle,and Fig. 18 is a perspective showing my invention applied to the runninggear of a vehicle of the automobile type in which the inner parts ofboth axles are fixed in parallel transverse positions in relation to thebody, and the steering is accomplished by short pivoted outeraxle-parts.

The letters a ii'i'r numerals designate the parts referred to. I

The running gear shown in Figs. 1 to 16 comprises front and 'rearpivoting a des and drawheads 15, adapting the vehicle to be coupled toeach other at either end in train, and to be run in. either direction.These features. are, however, of no importance to my inventionhereindescribed; I show and .de- --SOIlb8' the same merely to illustrate thescope and application oi my present invention.

As shown in said Figs' 1 to 16, the frame of my vehicle consists ofthree longitudinal sills, a, a, a, and front and rear transverse endsills 'b, b,"and transverse membersc', c. which members, in theparticular type of vehicles shown in said figures, must be in the formof an inverted arch bar as shownin dotted out- .line in Fig. 4, so as toleave proper clearances for the oscillating ends of the equalizing bars6, 6. a

On both ends of the body-frame are socured pivoting wheel gear of theplatform type. Such wheel gear are. alike-in construction. Eachcomprises parallel inenibersd, d, secured by braces e, e, and posts It,to and supporting the lower circle of the fifth wheel f; (See Fig. 5.)The upper member of the fifth wheel is rigidly secured to theundersideof and supports a bolster g; and said wheel gearis connected tothe central sill a ,of the body by means adapting the body and the wheelgear to oscillate transversely independently of each other. Suchconnection in the type of vehicle referred to is effected by means of'anoscillating pin 2', extending j ecting I perforated ends through whichthe ends of the shaft 9. extend, and thus hingedly through the bolstery, the ends of which pin connecting the parts. are journaled in hingelugs j, bolted by bolts 1 Centrally between the two bolster plates 7" onthe under side of the central sill a, and

shoes It", centrally arranged within the hingelug and made withperforated flanges, by which said shoes are bolted on the upper memberof the fifth wheel, as shown in Fig.

The lower member of the fifth wheel rotates I 'on a short king bolt t.

On the sections of the oscillating pin 11 intermediate of the bolster gand shoes lc lc, are sleeves m, m. See Fig. 6. -.-n, n, are the commonroller bearings of the fifth wheelji I The axle q, is supported at itstwo ends between the members (I, d, by pedestals p, and speciallycontrived means, details of which are shown in Figs. 9 to 1 1. ,Brieflydescribed these details consist of the pedes tals made withsupporting-lugs p" by which the pedestals are rigidly attached to theends of the parallel members (I, d, which ends are' supported by thepedestals. ()n, the ends of the axle are placed saddles w,

The saddles are made with I (see Fig. 13).

' spring retaining studs w by which to hold the lower vend of the coilsprings g; and the heads of the rivets 2 on the under sides of the topof the pedestals p, are made large, so as to afford ample hold for theupper ends of the coil springs. y. The pedestals 'p are .1nade withintegral vertical members or jaws 2, which are positioned within :thetwo parallel members (I, d as shown in Fig.

.011 the axle ends are placed-axle shoes 3, made in two parts (see Fig.12) in"th'e'sha'p'e of a box. Betweenthe shoes 3 andthe jaws '2 of thepedestals are. placed anglc plates (see Fig. 14) made like sections ofangle irons. Theshoes 3 and-4 receive the wear othe'rwise .received bythe axle sides and lpedestahjaws 2. v I

v The described means for supporting my vehicle axles are madethesubject of a separate application for letters patent. The bolsters yare of the construction more clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The

same consists of two-plates '9 between theends of whiehare rigidlysecured stirrups 5, 5, in which are supported the ends'of the 1c? of thevehicle frame.

equalizing bars 6, 6. .The equalizing bars are arranged within theoutside members a a of the\ body frames Such equalizing bars are made ofgreaterwidth in their mid dle section than at their e ds and are'pro- Onthe latter which shaft are supported in hangers, 10, 10 secured to theunder side ofthe members a, To strengthen the uparts, the. equalizingbars 6 are provided with straps 7, which encompass the middle part ofthe equalizing bars, and have pro-- provide g is clamped the lug-l 2. orthe male part of center casting 12, the clamping being effected by thetightening of the nut 11' of the oscillating pin 11 and thus causing thesleeves m to force the parts together. The female part- 14 of thecenter; casting is bolted to hounds 13, 13 of the wheel gear. The hinbolt 1 is secured in placeby a split pin 1 6. The two ends of the axle gare eachanade. with fixed collars 0, and removable collars 1' held inplace by split pins 8. v r

Underlying the lower members of the fifth wheels j, of the front andrear wheel gear,

are two grooved segmental circles t,:one at each side, secured in placeby the bolts h passing through the postsh, and by bolts 45 passingthrough the extremities of the braces c, 6. See Fig. 6. ln-said groovedsegments lie the ends of the connecting cables 11., a,

said segments being made with lugs 1), v, in which to secure said cableends.

l7, 17", are pedestal braces, arranged 'substantially parallel to thehounds 13, 13. To the extremities of said braces. andhounds are riveteddraft eyes 18, 18 to which draft eyes are attached the forkedextremities of the draft attachments l 9.

' As far as describedmy invention is shown as, applied to a vehicleprovided with rear pivoting axle, that is, the rear axle also swivels ona fifth wheel and the draft appliances are attachable to,.and thevehicles may be drawn from either end. I have described my invention asapplied to this construction in the first instance, however, merelybecause it represents the more intricate application of my invention.

Below I will describe my invention applied to a vehicle made with afixed rear axle.

The operation of the equalizing devices will be substantially the samein every case. The effect of such operation is as follows In everyvehicle to which rny invention .is

applied both the front'fan'dt-he rearwheel gears must be arranged tooscillate trans versely at their centers; and operative connections ofthe lever. principle, must also be d between. the, ends of the front andrear axles on each side of the vehicle body to communicat'e theoscillation of one wheei gear'relatively to the other wheel gear. Andthe effect obtained by such construction, as a-whole', is tokeepconstant the wheel-load carried by each wheel. That is to say, theoscillation of thefronflwheel gear is trans mitted by the centrallyfulcruined equalizing bars 6, fi fto-thfe rear wheeljgear, and causesthe'latter to be relatively inclined iri. an o posite direction tothesaine degree as the rent wheel gear. In practice, however, sinceallthe wheels rest on an immovable base, the

mat-ic examples of a modification in the opereffect of my improvementabove 50 36, and 37.

55 crumcd in the hangers 35.

10 of the vehicle body, it is self evident that the important beneficialresults obtained by my improved vehicle gear are:The degree of inclineimposed on either front or rear wheel gear, because of a depression orelevation in '15 the road surface is greatly reduced, in its relativeeffect u on the position of the vehicle body; am the degree of theshifting of the center of gravity of the load carried by the vehicle isgreatly reduced compara- 20 tively to the effect of the same roadconditions upon vehicles of the ordinary construction. Th weight of theload is continually evenly distributed over the entire wheel gear.

In Figs. 15 and 16 are shown two diagramative connections between thelateral cm s of the front and rear oscillating Wheel gear. Aninspection, of the figures will show however that the main principlesand e ualizing jescribed are retained in both cases. In Fig. 15, myimprovement isshown applied to a vehicle gear of light construction,having great lengthof wheel base. The platform frame 25 is supported onfront and rear wheel gear of which the bolsters 26, 26, and part of thefifth wheels 27 are alone shown. The long equalizing bars 6, 6, and thehangers or bear- -ers.1(l for the same shown in the previous examples,are in this instance replaced by equalizing bars made in two shortsections 28, 29, suspended in hangers '30, from the frame 25, and theinner ends of said bars 28, 29, are connected by means of cables 31running over sheaves 3 2, 33.

The difference in construction in the example illustrated in Fig. 16is:-The vehicle frame 34 is supported both at the center and itsextremities by means of the hangers 35, In this case bars 38, 39, are'fulcrumed in the extremities-of the bolsters 40, 41, of the wheel gear,and the inner ends of said bars are connected by links 42, with theextremities of equalizing bars 43, ful- 44 represents sections of thefifth wheels. It will be furthcr observed that inthc typool'construction shown in Fig. 16, the four extremities or corners of thebody frame 34 arc given direct 60 support bythe hangcrs, 36, 37, whichmay be found of practical value, whcrc the vchiclo is designed forspecial work.

In Fig. 17 my nnprovcmcnt is shown apinclined wagons, the frontwheel-gear of which alone swivels.

' Since my improvement concerns the equalizing features only, I willconfine my description to the arrangement of the parts thereby affected.The body-frame 4.5 is provided with transverse members 46,- 46. Thebolsters 21, 21, of the front and rear wheelgear are each provided witha box 47, in which are pivotally supported the two ends of the frame 45,by longitudinally arranged hinge'pins 20, 20", so as'to adapt the saidframe 45, to have transverse oscillation. And the bolsters 2], 21*, areprovided with stirrups 22. 22 at their extremities, engaged by fulcrumedequalizing bars 23, 23 pivotally supported from the main frame byhangers 24', 24. The details of construction in other respects are suchas are common to three spring vehicles.

From the foregoing description, the beneficial results attainable by myimprovement are clearly distin ishable from the effects obtainable fromt e-use of springs. In the first place, the de reeof oscillation of thevehicle body, causer by inequalities in the road surface is onlyslightly reduced by the springs.

- And furthermore there is no c ualizing effect.

accurately so -termed, obtaina le by the more use of springs; becausethe springs act individually, and the undue stress imposed upon eitherspring is not relieved until such stress has been distributed throughthe medium of the vehicle frame to the other springs, in doing which thevery torsional strain is imposed on the vehicle body which it is mostdesirable to avoid. In my improved vehicle. gear, on the other hand, thevehicle body is supported by devices which not only distribute theweight of the load as if suspended on a balance, but the oscillationsare themselves greatly reduced in degree, so that depressions andelevations in the road surface are easily passed over which ordinarilywould impose quite an extreme oscillation, and strain on the vehicle.The use of springs, in my gear is, in fact, a mere auxiliary element.Nevertl'ieless, to complete my illustrations of the application of myinvention to another well v known type of vehicle, I will now refer tothe automobile typeshown in Fig. 18.

This represents a vehicle bod y-frame 48, to which are centrally affixedhangers 49, 49", pivotally holding equalizing bars 50, 50, the frontends of which are connected with a pair of springs 51, the outer ends,52, of which support the forward corners of the vehicle body. To thesprings 51'is ali'i'xed a rigid axle 53. A similar arrangement-fm' therigid rear axle 55 is effected by springs 54- anrl their connections. 56rcprr-mcnts thev compensating gear of the power transmission tothedrivcwhecls; and the steering is accomplisluwl by means plied to thetln'cc-spring vchiclc type, conlol' the well known short pivoted a. n.

monly found in what arc called crprcssl ln this example, it is tohrohsr-rvml, tl

vehicle-b1 ,dy on the wheel-gear four or more 1 municate are no partscorresponding to the bolster and lon itudinal oscillating connectionsthereof wit the vehicle body; but the axles 53, 55 in their relationswith the springs 51, 54 will oscillate relatively to each other andthevehicle body the same as in the types of vehicles first abovedescribed.

To understand the principle ofmy invention it is necessary to bear inniindthat by the herein described manner of mounting the points ofsuspension are obtained, while in the ordinary vehicle construction athree point suspension is all that is feasible; and consequently in thelatter case the trans- .verse oscillation of the body is at all timesprising a body-frame, front and rear wheelgear, means supporting thebody-frame on the wheel-gear and arranged to allow each pair of wheelsto oscillate transversely inde enden tly of the body-frame on anaxislying 1n the longitudinal center of the latter, and

lever-like connections between such wheelgear and the body-framearranged to transmit the axial incline of either pair of wheels,

due to ine ualities in the road surface, relativelyto t e other pair ofwheels, through the medium of the body. 1 r

2. The combination in a-road vehicle comprising a body-fra1ne, front andrear Wheelgear, means pivotally connecting the said.

wheel-gear to the body-frame and arranged to allow either pair ofwheels" to oscillate transversely on a central axis independently of thebody-fra1ne, and lever-like conneetions between sueh-wheel-gear and thebodyframe arranged to transmit the axial incline of either. pair ofwheels, due to inequalities in the road surface, relatively to the otherpair of wheels, through the medium of the body.

3. The combination in a road vehicle comprising a body-fra1ne, frontandrear wheelgear, central longitudinal oscillating pins and bearingstherefor whereby the gear of each pair of wheels is pivotally connectedto the body-frame and arranged to oscillate transversely independentlyof the bodyframe, and lever-like means connecting the body-frame withthe lateral extremities of the front and rear wheel-gear and arranged totransmit the axial incline of either pair of wheels, "dueto inequalitiesin the road sur- \face, relatively to the other pair of wheels,

through the medium of the body.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

LOUIS i CAMPBELL.

Witnesses T. J. GEISLER,

- R. R. DUNIWAY.

